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L. 0. OROWELL.. METHOD OF PREVENTING FRAUD INTHE SALE OF NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS.

Patented Aug. 9, 1892.

NEWS

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UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

LUTHER O. CROWELL, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO ROBERT HOE, STEPHEN D. TUCKER, THEODORE H. MEAD, AND CHARLES TV. CARPENTER, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD OF PREVENTING FRAUD IN THE SALE OF NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 480,423, dated August 9, 1892.

Application filed February 5, 1891.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUTHER O. OEOWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Preventing Fraud in the Sale of Newspapers and other Publications, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

It is customary at the present time for publishers of newspapers to furnish them to news dealers and agents in large quantities upon the condition that such as remain unsold shall be returnable. This affords an opportunity for fraud upon publishers, which newsdealers, agents, and others have availed themselves of to such an extent that it is recognized as a serious objection to this method of selling newspapers, and many attempts have been made to provide some simple and effective means for preventing this. The opportunity for fraud is largely afforded through the practice of a large class of persons who purchase daily newspapers of throwing them aside as soon as read, so that the paper is usually in a nearly-perfect condition. Thus large quantities of papers accumulate in public conveyances, hotels, club-rooms, and similar places.

0 These papers are frequently collected by newsboys and others and sold to dealers and agents at a low price, who, in turn, return them to the publishers as unsold papers. Among the methods of preventing this fraud that have been suggested and tested is that of sealing the paper, so that the breaking of the seal is necessary in order to allow access to the reading matter inside the folded sheet. Numerous methods of sealing have been suggested, such as riveting or pasting the edges of the paper together,or applying a small seal of paper or other suitable material, which embraces the edges of the sheet and is pasted to opposite sides thereof, so as to inclose the sheet and prevent access to the reading matter except by breaking the seal. Such aseal and an apparatus for applying the same is shown in my prior Letters Patent, No. 419,833. Serious practical obj ections,however, have been found to all the methods thus far suggested.

Serial No. 380,324. (No model.)

The riveting or pasting the edges mutilates the paper when unsealed, and care is necessary in unsealing the paper in order to fully open the sheet and not tear the part of the page containing the reading matter. The paper seal applied to bind the edges of the sheet together is objected to by newsdealers and agents on the ground that the seals become broken accidently in handling the papers, the edges being exposed,and this results in loss to them. Moreover, such a seal leaves a large part of a paper exposed to the reader without breaking the seal, if the sheet have but few folds, and in the present development of the newspaper with papers of a very large number of pages it is difficult to apply aseal to the completely-folded paper which shall be sufficient to hold it and stillbe readilybroken by the purchaser. In solving this difficulty it seems to be necessary that some act should be performed by the purchaser in order that the paper may be marked as a sold paper, and it is evidently necessary that this act should be such as to be compulsory if the paper is to be read or so desirable to the purchaser that he may be depended upon to perform it. All previous efforts have been directed toward asolution by which it should be compulsory upon the purchaser to perform the act marking the paper as sold. I attain the desired object by a very simple, cheap, and convenient method, which involves but the slightest labor on the part of the [purchaser, by which practically all danger of accidentally marking the paper as sold is avoided, and by which the marking cannot deface the paper, but may render the paper more attractive, my method depending upon rendering it desirable for rather than absolutely compulsory on the purchaser to mark the paper as sold.

My improved method consists of detachably securing to one of the pages of the paper so as to cover a part of the matter a small slip or sheet, which for convenience may be 5 called a seal this seal being so secured that it may readily be removed or broken to gain access to the matter beneath it. The seal will preferably be applied so as to cover matter of especial interest to the buyer 100 such as important or late news or a comic picture, and this may be indicated on the seal, thus rendering the removal or breaking of the seal by the buyer more certain. This seal may also be provided with matter on its under side, which may, again, be important news or other matter which the customer will desire to read. This seal may also be made 4 of use or rendered an attraction to the paper.

Thus in the present development of voting contests in newspapers the removable seal may be a vote. The seals may be used, also, for advertising; purposes, this affording a very prominent advertising space. The seal may be of different-colored paper from that of which the main paper is composed or embossed, printed in colors, or rendered attractive in any other manner, as by printing upon it a comic or other picture. Many other uses will readily suggest themselves, the above being but illustrations.

It will be understood that the form and size of the seal, as well as its location upon the page, may be varied in any manner desired, and that it may be applied by hand if desired, although it will preferably be applied by an attachment connected with the delivery mechanism of the printing-machine or with a folding-machine. The seal may be applied to any of the pages of the paper or other publication. In the case of newspapers it will preferably be applied to one of the outside pages, and the last page may be found practically the best, as the seal will then be folded inside the last fold, and all possible ground for claiming accidental breakage removed. The newsdealers and agents may then be required to refold returned papers with the seal outside for the convenience of the publisher.

In theaccompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, I have shown the preferred form of seal by which my invention is carried out and several modifications thereof as applied to newspapers.

Figure l is a face view of a folded sheet, showing the preferred form of the seal. Fig. 2 is a section of the same through the seal. Fig. 3 shows a modified form of a seal folded within the sheet. Fig. 4 is a section of the same through the seal. Figs. 5 to 9 show other modifications.

In all the figures the paste-lines are shown by light dotted lines.

In Fig. 1, A is the paper to which the seal a is applied. The seal in its preferred form, as shown, consists of the two end portions 1,

which are secured permanently to the paper,

preferably by pasting, and the central portion 2, which is formed of the same slip as the smaller end portions, but is perforated, as shown at 3, so as to be readily detached therefrom. The construction is shown clearly in the section in Fig. 2, from which it is evident that the central portion 2, forming the seal proper, may readily be removed by a side movement of the fingers. The seal is shown as applied at the bottom of the page, so that the lower pasted portion is upon the lower margin of the page, and the matter in the column is preferably so arranged that the upper pasted portion lies upon a blank space between two articles, so that none of the reading matter is concealed by the permanent portions of the seal. An important piece'of news or other desirable matter will be placed under the seal and the seal may be marked as shown, Important news under this, or with any other suitable legend, and, as above explained, the seal may be made ornamental, or an illustration, advertisement, or other matter placed thereon. For further protection the parts of the seal may be numbered correspondingly, as shown, so that it will be necessary for one reattaching removed seals to papers to secure the seals originally attached to the papers.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown the seal as applied in the middle of last page, so as to be folded inside in the usual central cross-fold. In this position, if the sheet be refolded with this seal on the outside, as above explained, it will be very convenient for the clerk in examining returned papers, as the edges of the papers show immediately, as he runs over them with his hand, whether the seals have been removed or not. These views show, also, an additionalmeans of protection, which consists of arranging the matter upon the seal so as to extend over both the permanent and detachable parts of the seal and be broken by the removal of the latter.

While this construction of a seal made in three parts is preferred, as not defacing the paper in the least by its removal, this is not essential to my method.

In Fig. 5 I have shown the entire seal removable, it being pasted only at the corners,

so as to be readily detached, and preferably between the columns, as shown, so as not to deface the page when removed. In this view, also, I have indicated the modification of my invention previously referred to, in which the seal contains matter of interest on its under side, so that the seal itself furnishes inducement for its removal independently of the matter under it.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown my seal made in the form of a common round seal, this being preferably large enough to conceal a space a column square or larger, and being pasted only at the center, and preferably applied so that the pasted portion comes between two articles or between columns.

In Fig. 8 I have shown the seal as applied to the corner of the paper and pasted only upon the two edges, so that no paste is applied upon the printed part of the page.

In Fig. 9 I have shown the seal as applied to the corner outside the body of the page and pasted to the margin on its side edges. A line of perforations tare provided through the middle of the seal, so that by running the finger under it the seal may be broken and the matter beneath read without removing the seal.

It will be understood that other modifications may be made in the special means for carrying out my invention, and that the forms shown are selected only as the preferred forms and for the purpose of illustration.

While I have described my method as applied to newspapers, and this is its most important application, it will be understood that its use is not limited to newspapers, but that it is applicable also to other publications.

I do not claim herein the method of preventing fraud in the sale of newspapers and other publications, which consists in applying to a page of the publication a seal having matter on its under side and partly attached to the paper, so as to be broken or detached for access to said matter, nor a paper having such a seal, as this forms the subject-matter of another application, Serial No. 415,872, filed December 22, 1891.

What I claim is- 1. The method of preventing fraud in the sale of newspapers and other publications, which consists of applying to a page of the publication a seal partly attached to the page, so as to cover and conceal a part of the matter on the page until the seal is broken or removed, substantially as described.

2. The method of preventing fraud in the sale of newspapers and other publications, which consists of applying to a page of the publications a seal having matter on its under side and partly attached to the page, so as to cover and conceal a part of the matter on the page until it is broken or detached, substantially as described.

3. A paper or other publication having upon one of its pages a partly-attached seal, covering and concealing a part of the matter on the page until it is broken or detached, substantially as described.

4. A paper or other publication having on one of its pages a partly-attached seal having matter on its under side and covering and concealing a part of the matter on the page until it is broken or detached, substantially as described.

5. Apaper or other publication having upon one of its pages and concealing a part of the matter upon the page a seal consisting of the middle detachable portion 2 and the end portions 1, secured to the page, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LUTHER O. CROWELL.

Witnesses:

G. M. BORST, T. F. KEHOE. 

